Vices and Virtues
by drella the black rose
Summary: When Rin is accused of murder, it's up to her older sister and famous prosecutor, Neru, to save her from the clutches of corrupted and unbeatable defense attorney, Mikuo Hatsune known for being the only one to ever beat Neru. Now, Neru must work with the man she hates to save Rin from more trouble, and together, Neru and Mikuo must solve the mystery, and save more than just Rin.
1. Prologue

_P__rologue_

_Detention Center_

* * *

Neru rushed through the door. She couldn't believe it. No! She _wouldn't _believe it!

Her sister couldn't – wouldn't – do something so horrible! Her sister was her sister and she knew her too well… Why would she kill someone? Either she didn't do it or there must have been a feasible explanation. Perhaps it was only self-defense?

Whatever it was, she knew that her sister must have been innocent and that the motive would be stupid. She must have been framed. Yes, Neru nodded to herself, that was the most logical thing she could think of.

After calming herself down and asking the guard if she could see her sister, she thought about how to find her sister the perfect attorney. She would accept nothing less than the best for Rin, and therefore a lot of thought must be put into this. Once the doors opened, she ran to see her.

"Rin! What the hell happened?"

"Hi, Neru," Rin said, looking bleak, "Nothing… Not really, anyway. They think I killed someone, is all."

Neru let out a whimpering noise, "Well, _who_?"

"…SeeU. They think I killed SeeU."

"Why would they ever think that?! You'd never –"

"I don't know. But they think I did, and that's that."

Neru quirked and eyebrow at her sister. Something had really changed in her demeanor. Her arms were crossed and her eyes were down on the ground. She seemed angry and her words were curt and cold. Neru was not used to her sister behaving this way. It was almost ridiculous, but understandable. She decided not to push the issue.

"Have you talked to Len yet?"

"He called a little bit ago, and wanted to visit right away to figure out what was going on, but I told him not to worry since he was really caught up in work. He'll be dropping by later."

"Well, that's good," Neru clicked her tongue in hesitation, "Now, the real issue…" she gulped, "Have you thought about an attorney at all yet? Have you talked to some, at least?"

"One came by just before. He gave me a card or two."

"What was his name?"

Rin frowned, arms crossed over her chest, "Mikuo Hatsune."

Neru's breathing was suddenly labored. Her eyes were burning and she was pretty sure steam was coming out of her ears. _No! _There was _no way _that Rin would have that man as her attorney.

"_No way_! You're not going to –"

"Nobody else wants to take my case, Neru. He's the only one that's volunteered and I'd much rather someone who's volunteered then someone who doesn't want my case."

"Why don't I find you one? I could find you a better one than Mikuo!"

"Neru, you've practically beaten every attorney in the state. Aside from my case being considered completely hopeless, I'm your sister. No one wants to help, and I doubt you could find one who would accept, being you and all."

Neru bit her lip. Rin had an excellent point. She sighed, and put her face in her hands. This was a whole lot to take in, and that was when she noticed how frightened Rin was beginning to seem. That seemed a little more appropriate behavior than her strange anger.

"Alright… But if he gives you _any _trouble, I will make him pay! You know how he is, Rin, and I don't want you to wind up in more trouble based on some stupid corrupted man…"

Rin shook her head, "It'll be alright, Neru. I don't think anyone will stand a chance. Not even you could…"

As much as Neru hated to admit it, yes, she did not stand a chance against the man. He was the only one she couldn't beat. Most knew Mikuo as a great defense attorney… but Neru knew him as a slimy, corrupted one who acquitted anybody for hefty sums of money and personal favors. Most of the time, they were either sexual or silencing someone that needed to be.

She should know. She was one of those few prosecutors who stood their ground in court, and the only one to last more than a day with him. And because of that, she was almost silenced.

* * *

_He had her pressed against the wall. His hands were placed beside her head on both sides and she knew where this was going all too well._

"_Hey, Ms. Akita, why don't you just back down?" he whispered, salty words and salty breath on her neck._

_His knife was pressing against her cheek ever so slightly, and she could feel it starting to dig into her skin. It was starting to hurt, just a little bit, and then he started moving it down her body._

"_Why don't you get off of me?" _

"_You know I'd never let someone as pretty as you get away from me. After all, I made a promise to get rid of you, or at least destroy you. It's in the contract, babe."_

_Neru glared. It was icy and cold and very, very terrifying. The man chuckled, obviously not afraid, and Neru took that as an opening. She pushed him off of her and ran back into the lobby, desperately trying to get away._

_Then she bumped into _him_._

_She pushed him out of the doors, a very irate look on her face. The teal-haired man simply chuckled at her._

"_I thought he was supposed to be doing his job."_

_Neru was suddenly too agitated to be okay with that kind of talk. "Oh, I think he was certainly trying to! You're _not _going to silence me by frightening me, if that's what you think! And I'm not going to take your money or anything! You're horrible! And I'm going to expose you for all that you're worth, you corrupted piece of trash!"_

_Mikuo's laugh was less than pleasant. His finger worked its way under her chin and tilted her head towards him._

"_Such a shame you forgot to mention the other way I could silence you…"_

_Ew. No, she wouldn't be his fuck-buddy, either. She didn't respond._

_His finger stayed in its spot, "Oh, Neru, you're so silly, you know that? You're not going to win today. Just give up."_

_She was ready to kick him when he pulled on her golden pony-tail and patted her head._

"_Save that attitude for court. You're _really _going to need something to help you get along in there."_

_The criminal that had cornered her had followed her home for days after that, even after she had lost the case. Eventually, she called the cops and he stopped showing up. However, while Mikuo had left with money and probably something_ "beneficial"_ from his newly acquitted female friend, Neru had left with emotional scars and nightmares. Some people were just too awful and Neru could barely believe it._

* * *

Anyway, after he had the money, he would buy the silence or votes of the jury, and sometimes he would buy judges, too. He owned places, things and even people as powerful as politicians.

He was despicable and she didn't want her little sister to be in the hands of someone like him.

"You know, Rin, I don't particularly like to think about that. I'm going to solve your case on my own. The only thing he does well is fuck things up, and solving cases isn't a part of that."

Rin nodded, "Well I hope you solve it before my court date. The less we have to deal with him, the better."

"When is it?"

"A few weeks, I think."

Neru's face contorted in something akin to disapproval. That would never be enough time to solve a whole case.

"I'll see what I can do. Make sure Len knows everything and if you need anything else, let me know. I'll be back later to ask you about what happened, okay?"

"Okay."

Neru wasn't going to let her sister deal with Mikuo any longer then she had to.

* * *

**oh dear, it's been a long while since I've written for this fandom. I had a hard time choosing what pairing to make this… but Mikuo/Neru is a good one, right? Right? I have decided the other pairings will be:**

**Len/Rin (which was already implied so I think that's obvious)**

**Master/Miku**

**Yukari/IA (I love them)**

**Dell/Haku**

**And possibly Kaito/Meiko and Yohioloid/Maika (because holy crap I heard them sing together and ifdkjadlfj)**

**More might be revealed because we do need witnesses and detectives and people connected to the victim and such, so yeah. dude I might even throw in a random SeeU pairing even though she's the victim. **

**This prologue is short because I intend for this story to be relatively short, and I have no idea how long I want the chapters to be.**


	2. Chapter 1

**This chapter kind of happened fast, so I apologize if it's not very good. **

**Also, I just called Master "Master" because why not.**

**I don't own anything except the plot and writing.**

* * *

_Chapter 1_

* * *

_Hatsune Law Offices_

* * *

"_Hatsune_!"

Neru was honestly starting to get a little concerned by how many doors she had almost broken within the past week.

Whatever.

That could wait till later.

"Oh, dear, look who it is," he started, his voice cold, a small chuckle leaving his lips, "I do believe it's been a while, Ms. Akita."

"I'm not here for small talk."

"Yes, well, you aren't here out of respect either, judging by the way you treated my door."

"Why in God's name would I be here out of – you know, what. Never mind. I'm here for my sister, and that's all I'm interested in."

"Such a shame, beautiful. I could make you an offer you might not want to refuse."

Neru scoffed, "I'm _repulsed_ by you. What makes you think I'd want to touch you?"

"…So. Your sister."

"Yes, my sister," Neru replied, "I'm here because I'm going to help you solve her case – or rather, I'm going to help you win."

Mikuo's teal eyes bore into her, "So it seems. I do hope you're not going to try and prosecute this case. You know as well as I do that that would be awfully… suspicious."

Neru rolled her eyes, and let out a mumbled, "You're one to talk…"

Suddenly, the blonde girl straightened her posture and shook her head, "No. I said I'm going to help you solve her case, and, in turn, I'm going to help you win. But we're going to do it the _right _way."

Mikuo smirked, and held out his hand toward a more suitable area for their conversation, "Now you've got me interested, Ms. Akita. Shall we?"

Neru's eyes narrowed, but she nodded and sat down. Mikuo sat down across from her, and she wanted to hit him. He seemed so laidback about the whole thing, despite the fact that the case had been called an open and shut one. Plus, they didn't know who would be prosecuting. The look on his face seemed to mock the nights she had stayed up worrying about everything.

"Your worries are pretentious, Ms. Akita. And I _don't_ worry."

"Perhaps you don't, but _someone _has to."

"Yes, well… Perhaps someone does have to. But does it really have to be one of us?" Mikuo had asked, keeping that mocking look on his face.

"Unfortunately, I must worry. Rin _is _my sister, after all. But that's beside the point… The case details, if you'd please."

* * *

_Prosecutor's Building - Master's Office_

* * *

"Are you certain, sir?"

"Yes. Assign me to this case. I have some unfinished business with the parties involved."

"…You know the court frowns upon that kind of thing, Master."

"Does it matter?" Master snapped, "I just want to be on the case. They were going to assign it to me, anyway."

"…Alright then."

Master put his hand through his brown locks, and suddenly sat down, "Long ago, a dove flew past me. They told me to shoot, but I didn't."

"…And what does that have to do with the case? With me?"

"With you, absolutely nothing," Master replied, coldly, "But with the case, it has to do with at least a quarter of it. But it is my entire reason for being a prosecutor."

"A dove? Really, sir?"

Master nodded, smiling fondly, "Yes. A dove… She didn't want to die, and I couldn't bring death upon her."

There was no response from his assistant.

"But, it's time to set her free." He said it to no one in particular and continued his trek out of his office.

* * *

_Hatsune's Law Offices_

* * *

"So, SeeU Dahee was shot on the fifth floor balcony of the Roseright Hotel at approximately 8:38 at night."

Neru nodded, "Where was she shot?"

"Through the temple at point blank range. Instantaneous," Mikuo replied, his voice suddenly serious.

Though Neru didn't particularly care for the man – okay, she _despised _him – it wouldn't do to have something wrong with him.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all, Ms. Akita." His smirk was back, and it was then that Neru's eyes narrowed again and she urged him to continue to tell her the details of the case.

"Before she was killed, the killer shot both of her legs from the same distance as the killing blow, but at a lower height. After SeeU was killed, her body fell from three to four feet."

Neru nodded, staring at the file expectantly, "So? What do they have against Rin?"

"Her blood is on the murder weapon."

"_Blood_? Don't you mean fingerprints?"

"It's a tad confusing, darling, so I'd hope you were listening."

Neru remained silent. "So then shouldn't Rin have some kind of wound? And even if it was point blank range, would SeeU have been able to reach her?"

"That's the thing. It doesn't say anything about SeeU or anyone attacking her. It just says her blood is on the weapon."

Neru groaned. "I hate it when they're not specific."

"Get used to it, Ms. Akita. You're in the big leagues now."


End file.
